A One Big Happy that came by me recently:
Two (at least) different senses of the adjective average here: ‘at the statstical mean’ vs. ‘ordinary’ or ‘typical’. So Joe could be right.
From NOAD2, with more detail (including a negatively-tinged sense):
constituting the result obtained by adding together several quantities and then dividing this total by the number of quantities: the average temperature in May was 64°F.
• of the usual or ordinary standard, level, or quantity: a woman of average height.
• having qualities that are seen as typical of a particular person or thing: the average teenager prefers comfort to high fashion.
• mediocre; not very good: a very average director who made very average movies.
Ordinary language is not mathematical language, and there’s plenty of room here for multiple senses of a word. So it’s entirely possible that a typical person would believe themselves to be above the statistical mean.
May 29, 2013 at 8:40 am |
And in the vicinity of Lake Woebegone, ALL children are “above average” (and the men are strong, and the women are handsome.)